To Search, To Find, To Love
by Miss Buch
Summary: Its a few years after the war and someone has been trying to kill Zuko. So the Fire Lord asks Sokka to go after the rebels. And he asks Toph for help. Tokka funtimes! Rated M for violence :s
1. Tea cups

_This is my first Tokka fic so please be nice :) *hopeful face*. Big multi-chapter adventures for Toph and Sokka. So its a few years in the future and Sukka is no more :( but Toph finally gets someone so yay! _

_Enjoy!_

_Miss Buch xxx_

* * *

**Run fast for your mother and fast for your father**

**Run for you children, for your sisters and brothers**

**Leave all your loving, all your longing behind**

**You can't carry it with you if you want to survive**

_Dog Days Are Over, Florence and the Machine_

* * *

Toph wandered around the back of Iroh's tea shop, pulling out a couple of jars that he had engraved especially for her so that she knew what was in each of them. Opening a draw she pulled out a small metal spoon and dipped it into one of the jars, dropping the crushed herbs and leaves into a cup.

"Three more orders of jasmine my dear!" called Iroh from the main shop. She found some more tea cups on the shelf near her head, adding boiled water and herbs to them.

"Here you go uncle Dragon" she put them on a tray and brought them round to the front while Iroh was tending tables.

"Table 3, 8 and 12, Toph" she paused for a moment, shifting her right foot lightly across the stone floor to remind her of where each table was as she felt the vibrations running up her leg. The earthbending master smiled quietly to herself and brought the tea over to the tables. Some people gave her slightly confused looks – how could a blind girl know where they were? It was several years after the end of the war and Toph was 17 now. She was completely different to how she had been during the war. She had grown up into a lovely young woman. Toph had reached her maximum height of 5"8 after a growth spurt in her mid-teens and was no longer stout but lean and willowy, with strong muscles hidden beneath her slim stature. Toph had moved on from green shirt and trousers covered by a cream over piece to a dark green leggings and a kind of three quarter length kimono that only covered half her arms. And despite the fact that her hair was very long she still wore it in her usual bun, and occasionally braided it after Iroh taught her how to do it. After spending a year on her own perfecting her metal and sandbending, she had spent another travelling around the world (apart from the poles because she couldn't see there) and had been forced into a bridesmaids' dress for Aang and Katara's wedding which had been an affair to remember. She hadn't seen any of the Gaang in a while – she still got letters from them and Iroh would write stuff down for her to send back but otherwise they had very little contact. Katara was pregnant now with her first child, a girl they were planning on naming 'Kya' after her mother. Toph had been working in Iroh's tea shop for two years now and was very happy there. They both lived in the flat above the shop and she practised her bending in her spare time to keep her skills sharp. Iroh had been teaching her about the other types of bending which had helped her add to her own repertoire. Although she could only earthbend she learnt about the fluidity that came with waterbending, the precision that was gained from firebending and the agility from airbending. She became more and more powerful as the days went by and Iroh always wandered why she wanted to work in his tea shop – she could be out hunting the rebels that were after his nephew but instead she was waiting tables in his shop. He was thankful for her – since Zuko had become Fire Lord they didn't see each other very often so the company that Toph provided (in her own sarcastic and independent way) was always welcome.

* * *

It was that evening when they were closing up shop that Toph dropped the tea she was holding. Iroh's head shot up at the sound of the china shattering onto the stone floor.

"Toph my dear? Are you alright?" but the young woman didn't reply, promptly running out of the shop after carefully jumping over the broken cups.

"Meathead! What the Oma's name are you doing here?" she shouted down the street. As soon as she had felt the vibrations a good 200m away she knew who it was.

"Toph!" the man's face lit up as he jogged towards tea shop, grabbing her into a hug. "I can't believe its you – I have been searching around the middle ring all day for this place. Wow, you've grown" he stepped away from her, taking a good long look at his friend. Toph had braided her hair today and the plait reached her slim waist where her kimono was held together by a yellow sash. Iroh came out of the tea shop to see the pair

"Ah master swordsman it is good to see you" he said, grasping Sokka's forearm and shaking it in a sign of respect. "Please come in, I'll make some tea and we can all catch up" Sokka followed Toph and Iroh into the shop and sat down at a table. Toph sat opposite and the old firebender went into the back to sort out the tea.

"So whats new with you Meathead? I haven't seen you since Aang and Katara got married"

"Yeah but you never 'see' me" Toph smirked slightly as she simply waved a hand causing the stone chair underneath Sokka to drop down so that he fell onto the floor. He grunted slightly upon landing on his rump

"Ow!"

"I'm the only one that gets to make the blind jokes, remember? Next time its going to be more than your ass that's sore"

"Alright! I'm sorry" he raised his hands in defense.

"Toph!" came Iroh's voice "What did I say about earthbending in the shop?" the young earthbender sighed

"I'm only allowed to earthbend if I'm trying to see"

"Thank you. Will you please give Sokka his seat back" said Iroh, bringing over three cups of tea. Toph moved her hand in a lifting motion and the seat rose from the stone again, propping Sokka back up. He was surprised by the comfortableness of the chair – it was made of rock but was spongier, like a cushion. _Wow, Toph is getting good_, he thought.

"So what brought you from the frozen wastelands of the South Pole to Ba Sing Se?"

"I told you Toph, the Southern Water Tribe has really moved on – we have a proper city built by Katara and a bunch of other waterbenders."

"Yeah, whatever"

"Well Suki and I broke up about a year ago"

"You were going to tell us this when?" she frowned at him over her tea

"Erm, when the time felt right?" he shrugged. Toph was tempted to earthebend him into a wall but decided against it

"So what happened?" asked Iroh

"Well we both moved in together in down in the South Pole so I could help build the city. But over time we started to argue more and more and she was missing the Kyoshi warriors and her family. Eventually she left and went back home" Toph's face softened for a second

"I'm sorry Sokka"

"Its fine Toph, it was ages ago"

"Moving back to my original question, what are you doing here?"

"Zuko sent me a letter asking for help. Since the end of the war I suppose I kind of lost my usefulness because, well I can't bend and all I'm really good at is plans and fighting"

"The first three quarters of that statement were true. I'm not sure about the fighting though"

"Hey I can still fight!"

"Meh" she shrugged.

"Anyway someone tried to kill Zuko"

"Again? You'd have thought they'd have given up by now. I thought he had a team and Mai protecting him? I'm surprised that she didn't kill them with her bare hands."

"Well she is pregnant to so she's not exactly in her best form for fighting at the moment. We have a name and a reduced search field."

"Ok, who is it?"

"A group of people led by some guy called Fren Ya over in the Western Earth Kingdom not far from the gulf that bridges the gap over to the Fire Nation"

"He sounds like he has a girl's name" she commented. Sokka chuckled and then continued

"The group has labelled itself 'The Anti Harmony Restoration Movement"

"Oh yeah, 'cause that's original" through much struggle and difficulty and the intense efforts of Zuko and Aang the Harmony Restoration Movement had been put in place. Three of the four nations had been happy about this – a lot of the Fire Nation thought that they were still superior and deserved to rule the world which had lead to uprisings of small rebel groups all over the Fire Nation. "So Zuko wants you to get rid of the bandits"

"And I want your help" Toph folded her arms, leaning back slightly in her seat

"Let me get this straight. You want me to traipse across the region with you to find a group of rebels that are trying to kill one of our best friends who also happens to be ruler of the an entire Nation. Beat the crap out of them, put them in prison and not kill you on the way?" they both knew how annoying Sokka could be and during the war she had planned various methods to of killing him - her favorite had been tying his limbs to four shirshu make them all run after food in completely different directions.

"Yeah pretty much" Toph turned her head to lock her sightless eyes onto Iroh.

"If you don't go my dear I will close up shop"

"Well that doesn't leave me with much of a choice does it?" she smiled at Iroh "I'll go – but there's one condition. Any money we get/steal goes the fund for building that city of Aang's" Iroh frowned at her - he did not approve of stealing, but she didn't really care

"Republic City?"

"Yeah"

"Deal Meathead"


	2. Where did the fourth one go?

**_Thank you so much to my one follower Fruipit, it's nice to know that someone likes the screwed up thoughts in my head :s There is some action in this chapter and we get to see some of Toph's bending which is always awesome - I just hope I've done her justice. Enjoy!_**

* * *

**And I'll find strength in pain**

**And I will change my ways**

**I will know my names as it's called again**

_The Cave, Mumford and Sons_

* * *

"I'll see you soon uncle Dragon" Toph said into Iroh's shoulder as they were doing goodbyes

"You'll be back before you know it. And if you see my nephew please tell him I say hello"

"I will"

"Come on Toph! If we don't leave now we'll miss the train out of the city!" Sokka called over from nearby. The young woman released Iroh and stamped her right foot down, a column of earth erupting under Sokka and throwing him several feet into the air. He landed with a thud and a grunt but was overall unharmed

"Shut up Snoozles! I'm saying goodbye!" the old man laughed

"You had better be careful with him – next time you could really hurt him"

"I was careful with him – I know how to make hurt if I really want to" Iroh smiled at her.

"And you be careful my dear – the next time I see you, you had better have a medal from my nephew pinned to your lapel"

"Oh I will, don't worry" she gave him her usual mischievous smirk. Toph gave him a little wave and turned around to walk over to when Sokka was waiting for her. "Come on Meathead, we've gotta go" Sokka just sighed as they both began to walk through the middle ring. For the most part, their journey to the outer ring was spent in companionable silence. Sokka, as usual, was planning, going through the things they had and the things they needed to buy before they started trekking across the region. Toph was realised how little her friend had changed. Not in looks obviously, she had no idea what he looked like – the only difference she could find now was in height. No his personality was exactly the same. He was still a goofball, the plan guy, the one you could rely on in a fight. Her sensitive hearing had picked up something different in his voice though. It hadn't gotten any deeper like she had expected it to, but there was something odd in his tone that she couldn't quite tag. This was annoying because she prided herself on not only being the best earthbender in the world, but also just the best person all round. Sure, Twinkletoes might be the Avatar but he couldn't beat her in a fight even if he wanted to.

"Hey, you got space sword back?" she said on the train after not realising it was there earlier on

"Yeah. As soon as the war was over I came back to that place and searched for it – took me two days" Toph shifted one of her feet, taking a good look at the carriage they were in. There were only two other people in there apart from themselves, and they were at the other end of the carriage.

"So what's the plan Snoozles?" Sokka took a quick look around

"We are heading west. Mostly land routes, but we'll have to go back over the Serpent's Pass" Toph swore quietly

"Spirits, can't Aang just talk to the bloody snake and make it leave off?"

"Yeah…no. He tried that and nearly got his head bitten off"

"Hm"

"The guy they sent after…" he paused, not wanting to use the name of one of the most influential people in the world on a train where anyone could be listening "Sparky…. left him a note. These guys want the Loser Lord or Crazy Bitch back on the throne. I reckon they sent a grunt in just to leave the note and make some kind of scene 'trying to kill' Sparky. I'm pretty sure he got his face burned off for his troubles" Toph's lips curled into a small smile, but this changed to a frown when the locomotive's vibrations changed ever so slightly.

"Sokka" she said quietly

"Yeah?"

"There are four people on the roof of this carriage." Sokka's features rearranged themselves into a look of alarm.

"What are they doing?"

"I don't know. Two are earthbenders. I can't earthbend here – all I have is my meteor bracelet. If I do, I might knock this whole train off the rails."

"Can you fight without bending?"

"Of course I can fight without bending? What the hell do you think I've been doing for the last four years? I don't just serve tea in the middle ring dunderhead!" Sokka leapt up as he saw the paper on the windows tear and four men jump into the carriage. The earthbenders were ex-Dai Li. After they had liberated Ba Sing Se they had replaced the Dai Li with Kyoshi warriors, but some of the earthbenders had not been happy to go.

"Can't you guys just give it a rest?" Sokka complained "The war is over – we don't need you anymore!" Toph pulled of her meteor bracelet, holding it in her right hand.

"We are here for Miss Beifong"

"Yeah that's not happening" she quipped, her arm snaking out. The meteor bracelet elongated out of her hand into a kind of earth/metal whip, hitting on the earthbenders in the head. He cried out in pain as he fell out of the broken window with the force of the blow. Sokka unlatched his sword still in its scabbard and blocked the fists coming from one of the non-benders. The other two tried to jump the young earthbender but she slipped beneath the legs of one, one of her own flicking up and hitting him in a very painful place. He groaned and sank to his knees. The ex-Dai Li shot out a couple of rock gloves, both latching onto Toph's wrists and slamming them into the stone floor of the carriage, holding them there. The non-bender facing Sokka launched three rapid punches at the young man, who blocked all three and then brought around his sword, still in its scabbard. It hit the man in the head, knocking him out cold. The other pair of people that had been in the carriage with Toph and Sokka were huddled in a corner, trying not to be part of the fighting. Toph wrenched one arm from the rock glove holding it down, grabbing Sokka's forearm that he had held out to her and pulling hard to give him extra momentum to throw his full body weight at the enemy earthbender. He almost flew through the air, landing on the ex-Dai Li agent and crashing into the wall. Toph pulled the other rock glove off her arm and bent it at the non-bender that was struggling up after she had kicked him. It hit his throat and knocked him back to attach to the side of the carriage. Sokka got up, retrieving his sword from under the earthbender that had just tried to kidnap Toph

"You ok Toph?"

"I'm fine Snoozles. How long until we get to the edge of the Agrarian Zone?"

"Another five minutes or so I think. We can hand these suckers over the authorities when we get there" he said, tugging at the end of his wolf's tail and hanging his sword back at his hip where is should be. Toph walked over to the terrified pair in the corner, her bare feet making no noise on the stone.

"Are you ok?" the woman nodded, her eyes widening when she realised the young woman in front of her couldn't see.

"Are you really blind?" Toph blinked – no one had asked her that in a while

"Yes I am. Also the greatest earthbender alive." She shrugged.

"Toph, can you help me search these guys – I want to know what they wanted you for. Or at least who they are. Hang on, what happened to the fourth one?"

"He fell out of the window"

"He 'fell'? Out of the window?" he stared at her in disbelief

"Hey, all did was hit him. He didn't have to fall back through" Toph knelt over one of the men, running her small hands over his clothes, looking for any papers that could have been useful "Can you two do us a favour and forget we exist please?" he asked the couple still in the corner

"Yes, but who are you?"

"Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe, and brother-in-law to the Avatar. This is Toph Beifong, the greatest earthbender alive, heiress to the Beifong estate and the world's first and only metal bender" Toph smirked to herself - she liked her titles. "We both aided the Avatar in stopping the Hundred Year War when we were teenagers"

"Actually you were a teenager. I was twelve." Toph corrected him. "Hold on I've got something" she pulled out a small piece of paper, holding it out to Sokka. He grabbed it in his half blue gloved hand, turning it over.

"It's got the fire nation emblem on it" Toph frowned "it looks kind of intricate and important. Like something Sparky would have"

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'll keep it and see if we can make sense of it on the way." Toph nodded as the train came to a halt. It took them just under an hour to sort out the rebels that had tried to take Toph, but being war heroes kind of sped things along. Sokka was standing at the edge of the city, staring intently at his map when Toph came over from speaking to the officials and getting the men thrown in jail.

"I've taken another look at the map to see if there is an easier way to get to western earth Kingdom, although it takes only land routes it will be a lot longer" Look here" he said pointing at the map. The ground beneath Sokka opened up suddenly and closed just as fast after he fell in, leaving only his shoulders and head above the earth.

"I think you're forgetting something Meathead. I'm blind! Remember?!"

"Ow! Crap! Sorry Toph I forgot. Please, can you just let me out?" Toph widened the earth enough that he could wriggle free, grabbing his map and standing up straight "We can take the original route and go over the Serpent's Pass." She said adjusting her back pack "come on, let's go. We haven't got all day"


	3. Flowers

_**Wohoo! Three followers! Aren't I a lucky duck :) Anyway, here is the next chapter. We get to have a little look at how the rest of Gaang have been getting on. (its a very brief look). Not much action in this one, but some important plot points in this chapter. Please review, and thank you to Fruipit, The Goat and Konai Obscura for following, I really appreciate it. **_

**_Miss Buch xxx_**

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**Good friends we have, oh, good friends we've lost  
Along the way  
In this great future,  
You can't forget your past  
So dry your tears, I say**

_No Woman, No Cry, Bob Marley_

* * *

It was several hours later and they were still walking. Neither of them minded this – they were used to being on the road. Toph had noticed a slight drop in temperature over the last 20 minutes or so, and assumed that it must be getting to evening time.

"Sokka, messenger hawk alert" she said after her sensitive ears picked up the sounds of beating wings. It took a moment for the bird to land on his shoulder and he detached the scroll attached to its leg

"How do you know it was a messenger hawk?"

"Because the only flying animals in the Earth Kingdom are blue-jays (which are smaller than messenger hawks), flying fishopotami and screeching birds, which I would have heard a mile off. Oh yeah, and doves. I can tell the difference between the sounds of their wings." Sokka shrugged, unravelling the scroll. A long list of swears then ran out of his mouth while he was reading.

"What happened?"

"Azula's escaped" his said, jaw clenched. That bitch had nearly killed him and his sister.

"How the bloody hell did that happen?"

"Well, Zuko checks on her twice a week usually and when he went this morning she wasn't there. The guards don't know how she got out and they swear they were there all night."

"We need to tell the others. She could go after any off us but it's most likely to be Zuko or Katara. Or Aang. Crap, it would be any of us"

"Right. You set up camp, I'll write a letter for Air Temple Island" Toph raised her arms quickly so they crossed in front of her face. Two reasonably sized earth tents burst from the ground nearby. Her right hand waved, creating a small perch for the messenger hawk to sit on and it flapped over, positioning itself. Sokka dropped his pack and searched inside for his ink and paper

"Toph can you give me a table?"

"How big?"

"Big enough" the young earthbender rolled her eyes, raising a perfectly smooth stone slab he could use as a table and a seat that was a little less smooth. "Thank you" he unrolled the paper and started to paint the words onto the page. Toph pressed her hand into the ground, creating a depression they could use as a fire pit. She created a seat for herself and pulled off her meteor bracelet, playing with it and creating different shapes in her hands to help her relax. A few minutes later, Sokka got up, rolling the piece of paper into a thin tube and attaching it to the messenger hawk's leg.

"Can you take that to Air Temple Island?" the bird seemed to nod at him and then flew off.

"Hey Snoozles?"

"What's up Toph?"

"Are there flowers over there?" she asked pointing to a small bush nearby

"Yeah why?"

"Does this look like a flower to you?" she concentrated on the meteor bracelet, fashioning it into a crude shape which could have been made by a child with clay.

"Kind of. The petals are more pointed"

"Like this?" she asked, frowning slightly

"Yeah that's better"

"What kind of flowers are those?" Sokka went over to examine the plant, picking a flower and bringing back over

"It's white dragon bush. They were always Suki's favourite…." He kind of trailed over and Toph noticed the increase in heart rate coming from her friend.

"What really happened to Suki?"

"She left, I told you"

"Sokka. I am many things. World's greatest earthbender, most interesting person alive etc. But I'm also your best friend, and you couldn't lie to me even if you wanted to. I didn't notice before because the shop has wooden floors so my seismic sense is fuzzy" she raised a seat for him so that he could sit next to her and he flopped onto it, sighing quietly

"Before we met you we went to the North Pole so Aang and Katara could learn waterbending. The princess of the Northern Water Tribe was getting married to this guy Hahn. She died during the Siege of the North but he lived. Anyway he came down to the South Pole with the waterbender and other civilians a couple years ago. I-I found him with Suki. It's true we had been arguing a lot and we were drifting but when I found them it was the last straw. She left with him for Kyoshi Island and I stayed in the South Pole."

"It wasn't a year, was it?"

"It was a month ago" Toph curled her hand into a fist, punching Sokka in the arm. He grunted, her hand not hurting him any more since his arm had developed a thickened spot of skin where Toph had been punching him so much

"I'm sorry"

"Why? You didn't directly cause it. Wait, did you?"

"Of course not idiot! I'm just sorry ok? And if you tell anyone I was nice to you I'll bury you under Ba Sing Se." Sokka chuckled at this, but it was tinged with sadness. "Come on, let's do something fun!" she said, getting up.

"What do you suggest?" he asked, humouring his friend

"Have you got any alcohol?"

"I'm pretty sure you're too young to be drinking. And no I don't have any"

"Hey! I'm 17 – I can handle it just fine thank you. Why don't you spar with me?"

"You can try but you know, I'm pretty good" some of his old self-confidence (arrogance) coming through

"Oh please, I could beat you with my hands tied behind my back"

"Ok, prove it" she smirked

"I will" Toph pulled the sash from around her waist, the knot coming undone easily. She took off the kimono, leaving her in her vest and leggings. Then she gave the material to Sokka so he could tie her hands.

"I feel like I'm at a huge advantage" he said as they moved over to a clear area in case things got messy.

"The only time that you would be at an advantage was if you could bend and if I was unconscious at the time" Sokka moved quickly, lashing out with his right fist. Toph sidestepped it easily, dropping low to the ground and kicking out. The warrior grabbed her ankle and spun her whole body in the air just above the earth. Her hands touched the ground for a second on the second revolution and then he dropped her so she landed on her back, hands stuck beneath her torso. Sokka laughed triumphantly, ready to jump but instead fell flat on his face, his feet locked under two rock tendrils that Toph had snaked over his feet. She had rolled away so that he couldn't fall on her and stood up, facing him with a grin.

"You need to try harder Snoozles! No wonder we call you the plan guy! You fight like Sugar Queen!"

"Katara is one of the best fighter's I know" he said, struggling up from the ground

"She's pretty crap when she can't bend"

"I surrender. I will never beat Miss Toph Biefong, the greatest earthbender alive" Toph smirked.

"Come on. I feel like spiced boar-q-pine for dinner."

"We haven't got any".

"Hold out your hand" Sokka did as he was told. Toph stamped her foot, a large, wriggling boar-q-pine landing in his hand a moment later. He stroked its head to soothe it slightly so it didn't fall

"We do now. You're cooking"

"Aww, do I have to?"

"You want to let the blind girl cook?"

"Fair enough"

* * *

Zuko was barely listening as the various ambassadors talked over him. Mai was sitting next to him, seeming to pay avid attention to the men at the oversized table. He was too distracted by the fact his insane sister had gotten out of the mental facility and was probably going to try and kill him. Again. His wife's hand snaked out, flicking him sharply in the leg under the table. The Fire Lord blinked in slightly in surprise, his eyes flickering over to Mai and then concentrating on the people around the table. Zuko listened for a moment and then stood up, his long hair falling about his shoulders after he had let it grow over the last few years. During his time in exile he had kept his hair in that ponytail but letting it grow symbolised this change in personality. His uncle had helped him to grow into a better person and his hair had been an important part of that. He of course kept the Fire Lord's usual topknot.

"There is a simple solution." He said, brushing some imaginary dust from his annoyingly extravagant robes "The poor have been taxed enough" Zuko knew what it was like being a poor person in the Fire Nation and it was difficult enough without having to pay extra taxes. "We need to give higher taxes to the nobles and use this money for the poor". Mai had been waiting for this. She knew the immediate chaos this statement would cause and this made her mildly happy. The nobles and ambassadors started to shout almost before Zuko had finished, protesting at new tax laws. The young firebender raised a hand, silencing them all but one

"Fire Lord, this idea is preposterous! You can't increase taxes on us!"

"Why not?" he asked folding his arms.

"The lower classes deserve to be taxed. If they wanted to do better, they would work harder."

"Ambassador Kahn. I would say that I appreciate your input but I really don't" he shrugged "the rich/poor divide in the Fire Nation is huge. If we keep taxing the poor like we do already we are going to have more uprisings on our hands." Kahn stood up

"The Fire Nation is superior to all other Nations. We deserve to rule"

"I am not about to start another war. All the Nations are equal. We should live together, not fight with each other. And if we can't find unity in our own nation, then how are we supposed to harmoniously co-exist with the others?" the table was silent, and Mai was smiling inwardly. "You are all dismissed" the ambassadors got up, simultaneously bowing to Zuko and then leaving as he sighed quietly.

"Can I get you anything Fire Lord?" Zuko's right hand man had appeared from nowhere at his elbow. Zuko had complete faith in Tozka – he hand been friends the Iroh and often gave him advice when he asked for it.

"Just some tea"

"Any particular flavour Sir?" Zuko thought back to the list of tea's that Iroh taught him about, trying to remember which one was good for headaches.

"Green please"

"Can you get me some mint please Tozka?" asked Mai

"Anything you want my lady" he turned away from the pair and Zuko slumped back down onto his cushion which served as a seat. Mai kind of folded herself neatly next to him, looking as composed as ever, despite the fact that she was three months pregnant

"I do love it when you cause a bit of chaos" a small smiled playing about her lips. Zuko smiled ruefully at her.

"So do I, but it was a serious suggestion. Those nobles have too much land and too much power. We could be using the land to help the agriculture or to build new towns for the overcrowding problem we are having down south"

"I know that. But you are Fire Lord and what you say goes. You could change the Nation's emblem to an upside down ostrich horse and nobody could tell you 'no'. I don't condone what your father did – the guy was evil – but he never did as anyone else told him. You are the ruler of a Nation. Do what you think should be done, because frankly the lower classes need the money and we aren't getting it from anywhere apart from exports. And we don't export that much" Zuko put a hand on Mai's; silently thanking Agni that Mai had married him.

"Thanks Mai"

"Someone has to make sure you keep a clear head" she said, in one of her rare moments of humour. There was a sudden whoosh from the other end of the room, the huge wooden doors bursting open, revealing a very nervous Aang stalking into the room, yellow robe's flapping behind him slightly. Several servants came running in behind him, trying to tell him not to disturb the Fire Lord

"I got your letter this morning – how the hell did she get out?" Katara walked in quickly behind him, not quite at the waddling stage of pregnancy yet, and water whipping Aang in the back of the head.

"Aang, manners please!" The Avatar rubbed at the back of the his head, pressing the blue arrow

"My apologies Fire Lord Zuko"

"It's fine Avatar Aang. Schu, Fra, Scazka, would you leave? No one may enter this room apart from Tozka" the servants bowed at him and then scurried out. Katara remembered how Aang had reacted to the letter this morning.

"_Hey look, a messenger hawk!" said Aang, pointed outside. He ran out and came back in just as quickly while Katara had been making porridge. She had started serving the porridge into bowls when she hear Aang swear for the first time in her life_

"_Shit!" Katara dropped her spoon, the wood clattering on the floor. _

"_Spirits Aang! What is it?" his hand closed around the paper, scrunching it up as his hands shook slightly. _

"_Azula's escaped". Then Katara swore just as loudly as her husband had._


	4. The Crown Princess

_**Hi everyone! Exams are finally over (thank god) so more time for fanfiction - hooray! Four followers now - does it work like I get one each chapter I post? Thank you to jazzybizzle for the review and to Seargent Insanity for the favourite. Little bit of fighting in this chapter and a slightly awkard Tokka moment depending on how you want to interpret it... Review please! xx**_

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**I hang my hopes out on the line**

**Will they be ready for you in time?**

**If you leave them out too long**

**They'll be withered by the sun**

_In For The Kill, La Roux_

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"I don't know what happened" Katara raised an eyebrow at him over her tea cup "I went to check on her early this morning and she was gone. But her room was still locked and I have 12 guards watching her door in shifts. There is no window in the room and none of the men stopped patrolling during their shifts. I don't know how she got out. If she had firebent we would have seen marks. Someone must have helped her out but the guards swear they didn't see anyone between the last time I visited and this morning" Aang sat quietly for a moment, deep in thought.

"And then there are of course the attempts on your life"

"That was supposed to be secret" Zuko muttered. "Who told you?"

"There is a cut on your left side. I can see it in the way you move. Who was it this time?"

"A group that have labelled themselves as the Anti-Harmony Restoration Movement" dropped in Mai.

"They left me a note naming themselves and outlining their demands. They want my father or Azula on the thrown and to bring back the Fire Nation as the rulers of all. Apparently they will keep trying to kill me until they succeed. I asked Sokka to help me. He sent me a letter saying that he's gone to go and pair up with Toph to flush out the anti-movement. If I die now the Fire Nation is going to fall apart. We don't have an heir yet." Everyone's eyes flashed to Mai.

"The baby won't be born for another 6 months at most. I am not letting him die before it's born" Katara got up suddenly, making her way over to Mai. She pulled water quietly from her skin and held it over the other woman's slightly swollen stomach, letting it glow for a moment and then putting it away again.

"It's a girl" A huge grin broke out on Mai's face, and he had only seen her smile that wide once before – it was the day they had gotten married.

"She's going to be the first female Fire Lord in history" he said quietly

"Really?" asked Aang

"Yeah, I mean Azula was going to be, but Katara and I kind of crashed the ceremony. And then she tried to kill us and then she went crazy" he shrugged. "Well, she's always been crazy, I suppose it just got worse"

"What are you going to call her?"

"Ursa" they happy pair chorused.

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"I miss Appa" commented Sokka on their fourth day of walking

"So do I. he was a good friend"

"I meant for flying purposes"

"Spirits no, I hated flying. Didn't you value him as a friend?"

"Well yeah, but he's a giant flying bison, how friendly can you get?"

"He and Aang are like brothers. I'm not sure who he would miss more, Appa or Sugar Queen" Sokka smirked.

"Toph what's that?" he asked, pointing at the sky

"Meathead, seriously? I have been telling you this for years. I AM BLIND! I can't see anything in the air and I can't hear whatever you're pointing at." Sokka shielded his eyes from the sun, squinting at the shape in the distance.

"It looks like a big metal tank but it's kind of floating. I can't see properly from here." The thing was getting closer to them and if they had wanted to outrun it they wouldn't have been able to. "Hang on, is that thing suspended on fire?!" Toph swore as shapes dropped from the bottom of the thing and people came into view of her seismic sense and started to run towards them. It looks like they had a fight on their hands.

"Sokka, give me your bag and any valuables" Sokka didn't asked, just handed her everything but his space sword and boomerang. The young earthbender created a deep hole in the ground, dropping their things in there and removing her arm band so that they couldn't take it, throwing it down the hole too. She covered the hole quickly and set her stance. Sokka unsheathed his sword as more men came running at them – there must have been over a hundred people there. The metal box was following the men, starting to loom over them and block out the sun.

"Sokka?"

"Yeah?"

"Azula's coming too. We have earthbenders, firebenders and what feels like some Fire Nation army" Sokka would have paled if his skin tone allowed it

"We can't fight all of them! There must be at least a 100 people there"

"More like 200. And we're going to fucking try, I am not about to give up before I get the chance to bury Azula. So do me a favour and don't die. I'm going to try and incapacitate the chi-blockers first. Give me a second" Toph concentrated, amplifying her seismic sense and discerning the lighter steps of the chi-blockers in amongst all the heavier ones from the benders. She simply spread her fingers and Sokka heard shouts coming from the crowd that had nearly reached them as all the chi-blockers fell flat on their faces after Toph and pulled the same trick she had with him only a few days ago. Toph struck out quickly, a large stone slab lifting from the earth in front of her and forcing it forward at 80 miles an hour, scattering and crushing about twenty people in the process. Sokka had simply slashed forward with his sword, cutting a man across the chest. Toph was mildly surprised – normally Sokka was more defensive, never really hurting anyone with his movements. His heartbeat had jumped up in tempo and he felt….angry. Toph blocked a fireball and caught a rock that had been thrown at her, throwing it back and hitting the firebender in the head. He fell down with a grunt. He didn't get back up.

"Well, what do you know? It's the blind girl and the water tribe peasant boy"

"Ok first, you can't really call me 'boy' because I'm a year older than you" Sokka said between punching someone in the face. "And second, you look terrible. You used to be the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation. What happened?" Sokka was right. Since she had spent the last few years locked inside a mental health/prison facility her skin had become grey and sallow. Her hair was unbrushed and matted in wild knots. Her eyes usually looked a bright penetrating gold but were sunken and dark now, shifting from person to person, not really taking in the information they provided. Toph lifted her hands raising hollow rock columns to encase a few firebenders that had gotten too close. Most of the men had stopped moving now; surround the trio in the centre of a large circle.

"You can't win. You might as well surrender now" Azula stretched out her hands, feeling the familiar warmth of her inner fire spread through her limbs.

"Yeah, that's not happening" said Sokka. Azula moved quickly, the electricity spurting from her fingertips. Sokka took a deep breath and reached out, catching the lightning in his right hand and channelling it through his body. _Don't let it get to your stomach_, he thought, moving his arms and letting the electricity go flying into the air. Azula stared at him for a second. _How they hell did he do that? He's not a firebender!_ Toph used the distraction to her advantage, throwing up a rock pillar under Azula. The firebender recovered quickly, using the pillar as a spring board and jumping into the air, rotating a few times and landing in a crouch. Toph could feel someone raising something like a pole on their shoulders. _What is that?_ She thought. There was suddenly a stinging sensation in her neck and she frowned as her fingers fumbled for whatever it was, pulling it out from her pale skin.

"Ow! What the hell wa-" Sokka stopped when he saw what had hit him in the arm. They used these back in the South Pole for hunting – poison darts. Toph swayed unsteadily on her feet, her seismic sense blurring badly. Sokka fell to his knees trying to fight the tranquiliser

"Don't worry, I won't kill you. I'm going to keep you for a little while. And you'd be very surprised at what you can live through"

"No!" Sokka growled at as Toph fell on her side, completely blind again as the tranquiliser seeped into her veins. He tried to get up, he tried to go to Toph to make sure she was ok, but his arms were so heavy. _I can't…No…_he reached out to her but fell short as his world blacked out before his blue eyes.

Sokka woke up first. This was unsurprising – he was bigger than Toph and he assumed they had the same amount of tranquiliser in each of them so he was supposed to wake up before her. He rolled up, opening his eyes slowly, letting his blurred vision solidify. He rotated his hands, trying to restore some feeling into his arms. He looked around to see Toph lying on her side, her hair still in its bun despite the fighting and being knocked out. He managed to get up, despite the headache, and take stock of his situation. He and Toph were lying in a wooden cell. Four walls with a meshed wooden opening on one side so that food could be handed in. It looked much like the one Toph had described when she and Katara had been captured by Combustion Man in Fire Fountain City. So they had been captured by Azula who probably had her own agenda but may be working for someone else (although this was very unlikely) she wasn't going to kill them. _But that's good isn't it? I don't know_, replied another part of his brain. Toph groaned, breaking up his thought processes.

"Toph?"

"mph" her limbs felt like lead. "owww" Oma and Shu, her head hurt. She spread out one hand, feeling what she was on and swore. _I hate wood_, she thought, _can't bloody see_.

"You ok?"

"I feel like a there is a stampede of elephant mandrill running about in my head" her hands moved to her face, rubbing her eyes and moving some hair away

"Me too." Toph sat up, crossing her legs beneath her.

"What was that stuff?"

"It was tranquiliser. It knocks you out for however long. We use it for hunting seal and stuff"

"Any idea where we are?"

"I'd assume where are in that weird flying box I saw earlier. But we're not moving at the moment. Azula doesn't want to kill us. Why?" Toph's pale green eyes widened when she realised

"We're bait. She's going to lure Aang and Katara here so she can get them."

"We can't let her get them. Aang is the last airbender and Katara is pregnant with my niece."

"Hold on" Toph reached out, concentrating. _Come on_, she thought, _there is always something_. Her brow furrowed as she searched for anything bendable. Sokka jumped slightly as something pinged off the crotch of his trousers and into Toph's hand. She overturned the small piece of metal in her hand and then moved quickly, turning it into a thin stream and slicing a rent into the back of the wooden door. "What is this?"

"It's the button that was holding my trousers together"

"Will they stay up without it?"

"Probably not"

"Do you want me to put it back?"

"No, we need it to get out of here. Hang on, let me just…" he reached into his hair, pulling out the leather cord he used to tie his wolf's tail up. "Can you sharpen that to a really thin point?" Toph held what had been his button in her hand and then passed it to him, one end now very sharp

"Thanks" Sokka pushed the tip of the sharpened metal through the where the button had been before. He threaded the leather cord through and knotted it together so that his trousers would stay up until he got a fresh button. Toph's ears twitched

"There are three people coming down the corridor. One of them is shorter than the other two" Toph was working on hearing alone since her earthbending didn't work through wood. Sokka handed her the piece of metal and she shoved it into the hidden pocket on the inside of her kimono. The pair heard bolts and keys and then the door opened revealing Azula with two guards standing on either side

"I do enjoy having prisoners. It gives me the opportunity to torture someone whenever I like. But not at the moment. For now you can stay as you are until my mood changes."

"Azula, you still look like crap" the ex-princess' eyes flicked to his smirking face

"You had better be careful peasant, or Zuzu won't be the only one with a scarred face soon" Sokka folded his arms nonchalantly as if to say 'I don't really care'. Azula looked at him for a moment and then left, plotting all the different ways she could almost kill him but not quite. She wanted the water tribe girl and her brother. And she would get them even if it meant sparing the lives of the little mud girl and that ridiculous water boy.


	5. Escape underground

**_Sorry, I've been meaning to right this chapter for ages but my internet died and hasn't been working for ages because BT suck... anyway, thank you to the five people that are following and the two favourites :) it gets kind of fluffy near the end but... oh just read it! lots of lovies and please review!_**

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_It was a wicked and wild wind_

_Blew down the doors to let me in_

_Shattered windows and the sound of drums_

_People couldn't believe what I'd become_

**Viva la Vida, Coldplay**

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"We need to get out of here" said Sokka, stating the obvious a full two hours after Azula had checked in on them.

"I know that idiot. You're the plan guy. Plan our way out."

"What are you going to do?" he frowned at her

"I'm searching for bendables. The Fire Nation army have metal armour don't they?"

"Yeah I think so"

"Excellent" she said, cracking her knuckles. Sokka closed his eyes for a moment, trying to process the jumble of thoughts in his head into something useful.

"I think I know how we can get out. But I need to get space sword and boomerang back"

"Ok, what's the plan?" Sokka got up from the ground, starting to pace as he stroked the three hairs poking from the bottom of his chin that were making a pitiful attempt at forming a beard on his almost 20 year old skin

"Same plan as always. Retrieve possessions and run for our lives. Only fight if absolutely necessary"

"That's your great plan?!" she asked incredulously "Remind me again why we relied on you during the war?" she shook her head a little as he shrugged at her. "Let's go" The earthbender stood up, stretching her legs slightly and rolling what had been Sokka's button in her palm. She took a moment to stretch; her muscles were slightly cramped from sitting down for two long. Toph raised her hand, sharpening the small piece of metal and slashing it against the door, deepening the rent she had already made in it. It only took her a minute of virtually silent work to break through the door. She stuck her hand through the gap and felt around the edge, searching for the bolts and locks, using the small piece of metal to move them so that the door would open. She pushed the wood and it slid open letting her slip her foot into the corridor. She sighed in gratitude as her skin made contact with the metal floor, her seismic sense bursting into view. Toph swore under her breath as she concentrated on the vibrations. This thing was big. There were guards everywhere with winding corridors and a completely unnecessary number of rooms. There were two guards standing at either end of the corridor with their backs facing the inside of the earthbender's corridor. She motioned to Sokka, pointing at either end that at themselves. He got the message, running down to the right as Toph went left. They both moved silently, Toph raising her hands and just turned the helmets on the soldier's heads with her bending and closing off the gaps long enough for the oxygen supply to fail and the men to fall to the ground, but not kill them. Sokka moved closer to his soldiers, standing directly behind and pinching the carotid artery, slowing the blood flow to the brain and let the men fall unconscious. He turned back to see Toph just standing there. He tapped his foot lightly to get her attention. Her head flicked over to him and then she waved a hand as if to say 'follow me'. Sokka ran back down the corridor towards her.

"Your sword isn't too far from here. But we are stuck in the middle of this thing and the nearest exit is really far away. Azula's room is next to the one with space sword in it" she whispered "She's sleeping." Sokka nodded.

"Let's go" he let Toph lead the way down. After about a minute she stopped so suddenly that Sokka walked into her and she turned her head as though she was looking at something.

"I just remembered something. How in Oma's name did you manage to bend lightning?!"

"Can we walk and talk?" In response Toph started to walk again, turning right down another corridor.

"Since the end of the war I kind of ran out of things to do. I mean I can't bend so I'm just a 'political ambassador' or whatever they call me. I'm good at fighting an-"

"Good-ish" Toph shrugged slightly

"Are you going to let me finish?" he asked pointedly

"It doesn't matter, we're here" Sokka's eyes widened.

"Right, I'm going in"

"Don't be an idiot meathead! There are guards crawling this corridor – it's Azula's bedroom, remember? We need to be subtle, which we all know is not your strong point. Just hold tight a second" she hissed back. Toph had been working on her long range metalbending for a while now, so she raised her right hand and held it up, palm facing towards the metal door. _You need concentration, not power, right now. Focus_. Toph took a deep breath, zoning in on the miniscule particles of earth inside the metal. She felt all the tiny inner workings of the lock, her fingers moving almost imperceptibly to nudge the pieces of metal into place so that the door could be opened. Sending out a little wave of bending, she saw that there were four men in the corridor, all pacing up and down. That meant she had a small window of opportunity to get the sword and boomerang out. But they would be seen and chased back to their cell immediately. _I need a distraction_. Toph rolled the ball of metal between her thin fingers and flicked it into the corridor so that it bounced off the walls and knocked on the guards' helmets. Using her bending she moved the ball faster, letting it ricochet off the ceiling and jump off the walls, stopping all of the guards in their tracks. While they were busy with the little ball of metal Toph had slipped the door open, thanking the gods that both Sokka's boomerang and sword were made of metal. They lifted from the ground and shot of the room towards Sokka, who caught them deftly, just as a jet of blue fire practically melted the metal door to Azula's room. Sokka grabbed Toph's hand and half dragged her back down the last corridor while she issued him instructions on which way to go. They heard screeches from behind them

"YOU LET THEM ESCAPE?!" Azula may have been in her bed clothes but she was a fighter first and foremost. She would battle with every and any enemy that stood in her way, and right now it was a diminutive earthbender and a water tribe peasant. She sprinted along the corridor after them, blue fire preceding her as her prisoners ran ahead. Toph used one hand to wave up a metal sheet but Azula dodged it easily, throwing a bright blue flame at the pair.

"Left!" Sokka and Toph reared around a corner and into a well-lit passageway. "We're nearly there" she said between breaths as Sokka pulled her into him to avoid the blue flames, feeling the heat against her back. "Shit! Right! Turn right!" they both nearly fell down a right turn and Sokka suddenly felt all the breath shoot out of him as he dropped like a stone. Toph had sensed that they had reached the very bottom of the flying ship thing. It was cleverly designed so that certain corridors were sloped rather than flat so that no one had to climb any steps. Sokka felt heat brush his head as he fell through the air, wind rushing in his ears and blocking out the screams of rage coming from ex-princess. _I will be dashed to my own death if I go after them_, thought Azula. _The momentum I gain will be too much for jets of fire to keep me aloft in time and I will hit the ground anyway_. Toph was held tightly in his arms as she concentrated, searching for the earth and spreading her palm. _I'm going to die_, though Sokka, _shit,_ _I did not plan it this way. At least Toph's here_. The ground came up quickly and Sokka shut his eyes in anticipation of pain but he simply bounced on the ground like one of the seal skin trampolines he had made so many times for some of the children in his tribe. His arms reflexively let go of Toph as he rolled and bounced a little until the earthbender clenched a fist, the ground solidifying beneath them.

"Are you ok?" he asked once he had regained his breath.

"Yeah." She gasped back "At least I know training has paid off – my long range bending has seriously improved. More to the point, what the hell happened to Azula? I'm pretty sure she would come down after us"

"The momentum she would have gained by jumping down would have been too much for her to create stable fire jets to bring her back up before hitting the ground. And she's not going to risk her own life"

"We are still in trouble if they decide to land. We need to get out of here as quickly as possible. Hold on" Toph grabbed his hand with barely a thought and a hole opened up beneath the pair, swallowing them into darkness. The young woman stamped her foot, searching miles and miles of earth for where she had hidden their possessions. A spike appeared in her vision, their bags kicking into sight. They were over 10 miles of walking away.

"I hate not being able to see" said Sokka absentmindedly. Toph raised a hand, clapping him around the back of the head.

"Shut up idiot! Come on, we need to get walking if we want to get back to our things in under 4 hours and far away from them"

"Haven't they got earthbenders on that ship? If they get down to earth, won't they being able to feel us underground?"

"I think I can send out waves of bending to counteract their own so it looks like solid ground beneath them." The pair began to walk, Toph pushing the earth from in front of them out of the way and closing it up behind them. Now Sokka was from the Southern Water Tribe. He was used to, and liked, the wide open frozen regions of his home. He didn't do small cramped spaces. His head was barely two centimetres below the ceiling and over the years Toph had reduced her need for space with her bending. Sokka grit his teeth, hating being blind as well as cramped, just trying to focus on the feeling of Toph's hand in his own much larger one. After half an hour Toph spoke. "Why is your hand shaking?" Sokka's eyebrows shot up

"I don't like small spaces" he muttered, his brow creasing. Toph was surprised by this.

"I'm sorry Sokka" she said quietly "But we're going to be here for a while. And if I make this any bigger it's going to be harder for me to mask it against the earthbenders" she paused "that have just landed" Sokka swore, his hand clenching in Toph's.

"Ow!"

"Shit, sorry!"

"Come on. Let's keep going" the young earthbender closed her eyes, focusing on sending out waves of bending in the right directions. "You're going to be ok Meathead" she murmured, squeezing his hand gently

"Can you tell me a story?"

"Ok." Toph thought for a moment. "Many years ago there was a beautiful young woman who lived in a village in the south eastern Earth Kingdom. Near the village was a huge swamp that she was always told never to go into but she had always been curious about. When she turned 17, her family assigned her a husband, a man who was much older than her. She didn't want to marry him because she felt no love for him because he was a brute. But her parents could not see this and went forward with the wedding anyway. On the night before her wedding her husband-to-be was drunk from drinking too much sake and he beat her for no reason. He passed out on the floor and the young woman decided that she had had enough. She grabbed her things and ran away searching for some place where she could hide from her horrible fiancé. She ran to the only place she could think of – the swamp. But the swamp seemed to have its own ideas. The woman went into the swamp hoping for sanctuary but as she ran vines came from nowhere, wrapping around her and lifting her into the up. She flew through the air, more vines catching her. Then the woman began to laugh – the swamp was playing with her. Eventually she was left right at the base of a huge tree. The young woman looked up to the tops of the tree, trying to see the sky through the vines a branches hanging from the tree. All of a sudden a white line shot from beneath her feet. It struck up to the top of the tree and down through the roots and the woman could see the path it showed. But it seemed to do a circle and came right back to her, stopping directly under her feet. She was very confused at this point, but unknown to her, the swamp had chosen this woman. She was to be the spirit of the swamp. The swamp showed her two possible futures – one where she went back to her village and married a man that would make her miserable for the rest of her life. The other showed a life where she ruled over the swamp, allowing all the animals and plants within to live in harmony. This sounded like her ideal option for her – she had always had a kind of affinity with animals. She never wanted to go back to her horrible husband so chose to live in the swamp forever. When she died she became the Lady of the Swamp and would take in those who were lost or lonely or just needed some guidance. She was a direct descendent of Oma and Shu, which is what gave the swamp the information they needed to make here the spirit. She still resides there now, waiting for those who need her help, just like the swamp waited for her"

"Have you ever met her?" Toph's hand went stiff for a moment

"Yes I have Sokka"


End file.
